Verification algorithms for governed use of multimedia content
| Pages | 38-58 |
| Date | 27 February 2007 |
| Published date | 27 February 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520710731029 |
| Author | Eva Rodríguez,Jaime Delgado |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Verification algorithms for
governed use of multimedia
content
Eva Rodrı
´guez and Jaime Delgado
Distributed Multimedia Applications Group,
Departament d’Arquitectura de Computadors,
Universitat Polite
`cnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present different verification algorithms that will be used
by digital rights management (DRM) systems to enable the governed distribution, super-distribution
and offers of multimedia content. An issue of increased interest in DRM systems is the control of the
creation, distribution and consumption of multimedia content through the complete digital value
chain.
Design/methodology/approach – The design and implementation of verification algorithms
based on licences is described. Tools implementing these algorithms are used by DRM systems in B2B
and B2C models where the distribution, offer and consumption of digital assets are controlled. Some
use cases regarding the distribution, super-distribution and offer models are presented.
Findings – It has been demonstrated that DRM systems governing the use of multimedia content
through the complete distribution chain can use the verification algorithms proposed in this paper to
enable governed distribution of multimedia content. By using these algorithms, they can determine
whether the rights have been passed in a proper way from parent to child licences. Moreover, these
systems can also enforce the rights when distributing multimedia content.
Originality/value – The algorithms proposed can be used by DRM systems that control the use of
multimedia content through the complete digital value chain. These algorithms have been designed to
ensure that the permissions and constraints passed from parent to child licences have been done
according to the terms determined by content creators or distributors.
Keywords Intellectualproperty, Data security, Algorithmiclanguages, Multimedia, Standards
Paper type Technical paper
Introduction
A key issue in the distribution and use of multimedia content is to ensure that the
terms and conditions stated by content owners are respected by the other actors of the
value chain, such as content aggregators or distributors when using or distributing
digital instances of these assets. It is also important to specify verification mechanisms
that will be used by DRM systems in order to ensure that governed content is used and
distributed through the complete digital value chain according to the rights stated by
its creator. These verification algorithms will determine whether distribution or
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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This work has been partly supported by the Spanish administration (DRM-MM project,
TSI2005-05277) and AXMEDIS (Automated Production of Cross Media Content for
Multi-Channel Distribution, http://www.axmedis.org), a European Integrated Project, funded
under the European Commission IST FP6 Program.
OIR
31,1
38
Article received
25 September 2006
Reviewed by EuDiRights
Workshop Committee
Approved for publication
10 October 2006
Online Information Review
Vol. 31 No. 1, 2007
pp. 38-58
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/14684520710731029
consumption licences are valid according to the terms and conditions specified by the
producer or distributor respectively.
The MPEG-21 standard (Bormans and Hill, 2002) specifies mechanisms to enable
controlled distribution of multimedia content through the complete digital value chain.
Specifically, Parts 5 (ISO/IEC, 2004) and 6 of this standard, MPEG-21 REL and RDD
respectively, specify mechanisms to create rights expressions that govern the
distribution and consumption of multimedia content.
This paper presents three verification algorithms that specify how to determine
whether licences that govern digital objects have been created according to the righ ts
expressions stated by their creators when they are distributed, super-distributed or
offered. Then we present three different scenarios (one for each verification algorithm
specified) in which a DRM system makes use of the appropriate verification algorithm
specified in this paper to verify that the digital content is distributed according to the
terms and conditions specified by its producer.
In this area we can find other contributions (Halpern and Weissman, 2004) related to
the formalisation of licence based authorisation algorithms. Nevertheless, this
contribution examines only a fragment of XrML (Wang et al., 2002), and the authors do
not address the enforcement of rights in distribution scenarios.
Digital rights management
The role of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems in the use of digital content is
to enable business models where the creation, distribution and consumption content
are controlled. As such, DRM permits the governance of multimedia content
throughout the complete digital value chain. For example, when a distributor buys
content, he agrees to certain permissions and constraints, for example, the free
distribution of a low quality version of a track, or the distribution of the complete
music album to the members of a music club for a special fee. Rights Expression
Languages allow this choice to be translated into permissions and constraints, which
are then enforced when the content is distributed or rendered. Therefore, it is important
to enforce the rights through the complete digital value chain. The different elements
that form a DRM system are rights expression creators, protection mechanisms and
tools; and services and tools enabling the packaging, distribution and consumption of
governed and protected digital content.
Rights expression languages
The different parties involved in the distribution and consumption of digital content
need to exchange information about the rights expressions that govern each digital
asset through the multimedia distribution chain, from creation to consumption.
Rights expression languages (RELs) are languages devised to express terms of use
of digital content. They have been proposed to describe licences governing the terms
and conditions of content access. The most relevant rights expression languages are
MPEG-21 REL based on the eXtensible rights Markup Language (XrML) (Wang et al.,
2002) proposed by ContentGuard, Inc. and the Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL)
(Iannella and Guth, 2006) proposed by Renato Ianella from IPR Systems. XrML and
ODRL are based syntactically on XML, while structurally they both conform to the
axiomatic principles of rights modelling first laid down by, among others, Dr Mark
Stefik of Xerox PARC, the designer of the Digital Property Rights Language (DPRL).
Verification
algorithms
39
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